Tre Forze! Espresso

a Very special melange of coffee, where do I even begin with the explanation?
I got this espresso online, came in a very nice cardboard tube, like a bottle of alcohol.
The picture should show how nice this is.

This coffee has a very rich history, a very nice history actually. They actually roast the beans on top of olive tree branches, though they do not cut down trees for this process, they use branches and 'garbage' from the trees to do this. This wood is then stored in order to dry, this takes up around a year. According to Tre Forze, the lava from mount Etna in Sicily makes the olive trees get their specific scent and flavour.

The melange contents are a company secret, but they did confirm their melange has about five percent of Robusta in it, allowing the coffee to have a stronger espresso feel to it. The roasters did confirm the countries where they buy their beans, but not the types.

Another interesting tidbit, they roast all different beans seperately, this obviously allows all beans to bring out their full potential and not having their flavours/aromas lost by the more dominant beans in the mix. I really admire them for this, it is not the cheapest solution they chose in order to bring us this coffee.

Last tidbit that needs to be known, they have very strict quality controls for Tre Forze, the beans themselves are transported to Sicily. The raw coffee grown on family-run farms in the best cultivation areas in Peru, Costa Rica, Togo, Kamerun and Brasil, make it possible that the highest quality beans that money can buy can be used. They undergo up to 5 quality checks, to ensure the highest quality beans are being used.

Originally this coffee was only sold in Sicily, never intended to be exported, but over the years, the company changed their policy and started exporting it too. I am sure many espresso lovers rejoyced over this change in policy, because it is a very special blend, to say the least!

On to the good stuff, trying this coffee.

First impression, the beans.
Before opening the package, I was curious wether or not I would actually be able to smell the "olive" in them. I am not going to lie, I smelled something specific, but I was more leaning towards dades or so.
I don't really like olives, nor do I like dades, but hey, this is about coffee, not regular food

Second impression, the coffee itself, in a cup, waiting to be enjoyed.
Same impression as from the beans, the coffee itself was dark-roasted, between a level 4 and 5, so a more strong aroma was to be expected. Again I smelled that dade-like aroma... Once again, coud have been a olive scent too, was getting curious again about the taste :)

Third impression, drinking it, usually my favourite :)
Tasting is a joy, usually. This espresso however, it is strange.
I was experiencing less of the olives, but I am absolutely positive I was tasting dades in it, some chocolate, some nuts, a little spicey.... This espresso is a true mix of flavours, sadly not to my liking.
I am not a fan of dades or olives and it reflected in my opinion of this coffee.
Also, it lacked power, maybe that was just an impression of mine, but most darker roasted coffees are less present in flavouring and more present in pure power, but it had the aroma of a medium roast, all the flavours are very present, yet none of the usual power.

In the end, I have no idea how to rate it, if I have to go on my gut feeling, I can only give it a 6... But I think it deserves a lot more credit. They make it undergo a very serious quality control, one that should be the industry standard as far as I am concerned. Most roasters will have 1 or 2 filtering sessions to weed out bad coffee, Tre Forze does it five times! They deserve the respect for setting the bar.
Yet sadly my taste buds are screaming for a 6 out of 10. Sorry Tre Forze, you guys deserve much more based on merit and effort, but I am rating on my tasting only

Rated: 6/10
Purchased online koffiecentrale